


Heart of Winter

by Guldager



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Avenger Reader (Marvel), Avengers Tower, Between Movies, Bisexual Female Character, Blood and Violence, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Coming of Age, Elemental Magic, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Friendship/Love, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Torture, Magic, Multi, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Nature Magic, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Out of Order, POV Female Character, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Protective Bucky Barnes, SHIELD Agent Family (Marvel), SHIELD Agent Reader (Marvel), Slow Build, Slow Romance, Strong Female Characters, The Avengers (2012) - Freeform, Timeline What Timeline, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, reader is main character, smut? idk yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29981214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guldager/pseuds/Guldager
Summary: (READER IS MAIN CHARACTER)The 24 year old Alexandra "Alex" Walther has had quite a troubled life. From a dangerous family with an imprisoned assassin father. She was born in a small town in Greece, but was later sent to live with her older brother in New York, who was a SHIELD officer, when her father was thrown in prison. Growing up with her brother, she was trained to be a SHIELD Agent aswell. A few years pass, and she eventually becomes one of the greatest spies in the field. Now working in the Avengers compound facility (SHIELD was compromised). Working along side her wellknown colleagues, such as Natasha Romanov.Besides from all of the shit that she has been through, she still sees herself as any other person would see themselves... But that is only until one day, as she works a highly classified case...
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Kudos: 11





	1. Sleepy

* * *

The bustling morning traffic is streaming in through your flimsy apartment window. It was always so hard for you to get out of bed, and your eyes were glued together from your sleep. You manage to lift yourself up by your elbows. Slowly opening your eyes to see a familliar figure standing in your bedroom. 

"Morning beautiful" Natasha sings with a sarcastic tone.

"What the hell..." you said with a raspy voice. You grab your watch sitting on your bedside table. "It's 6am Nat!" You growl. Your head falling back on your pillow. 

"Hey, hey... I'm always on time." She laughs. She walks around your messy room. Deducing your scattered clothes on the floor. "Besides... General's orders." She says as she sits at the foot of your bed. 

A small laugh leaves your lips, wondering what adventure you two were going out on today. Natasha didn't always come barging through like this. Picking youself up from your bed, and your feet landing on the cold floor. You're only wearing a oversized T-shirt, but you felt comfortable with Nat in the room. As you walk over to your closet to find your work uniform, only to realize that it is on the floor, surronded by all of your other dirty clothes. 

"Looking for this Alex" Nat laughs, picking up your old uniform. She looks at you with a smile. You just shrug and lets out a long sigh.

"I'm gonna do laundry later tonight, promise." You answer her. 

"Of course you are" She sarcasticly continues. You shake your head whilst smiling. Natasha was probably one of your bestfriends, if not the only one. Ever since you started working for SHIELD, or at the avengers compound since SHIELD had been compromised, you were partnered up with Nat. And if you going to be honest, she was a little isolated at first, and sometimes even ignoring you. But after you opened up about your past to her, she slowly became more comfortable around as well. 

You didn't really have that many REAL friends, that you would meet up with outside of work too. Only colleagues, but that was fine, as long as there was someone to talk to. There was Nick Fury, but everyone knows how he is. You have often heard Natasha talk about "The Avengers", and they indeed sounded like a bunch of weird dudes. And you still couldn't wrap your head around the whole alien magic yet. 

You put on an old pair of blue denim jeans, classic white button-up, a lacy bralette, socks and simple black combat boots. You undressed right in front of Nat, and you could see her staring at you in the mirror beside your closet. After dressing up, you turn to Natasha to hear her thoughts about the outfit.

"I meaann, I don't know about the shirt. It sounded like we were doing dirty work today" She says as she turns her head to the side. 

"Well... Then I'll just wear a sweatshirt on top" You answer while picking up your old black sweatshirt off of the floor. The logo "SHIELD" on the back. Natasha nods quickly.

"We really need to move, Alex." Natasha quickly says as she looks at her watch. 

"Uhhh, okay, okay... Wait a minute" You struggle as you try to make yourself look more put together. After a short minute Nat grabs your hand at pulls you out of your room. Down the stairs of the apartment. 

"We'll grab breakfast on the way there, Alex" Natasha says as she smiles at you.


	2. A toxic mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex (You) and Natasha are assigned for a new dangerous mission. The case description explains, that you have to pick up a toxic but natural cosmic energysource, which has clinged onto some plants. After picking it up you have to safely deliver it to the research team at The Avengers compound, but something goes wrong...

"Ouchhhh" you say, as you burn your tongue on the hot coffee. Natasha had just bought two of them for the both of you. She was being sort of nice today, _weird_ you think to yourself. She usually didn't act like this. A smirk curls on her lips, because of your reaction to the scorching drink.

"Ha! You must be thirsty Alex." She laughs. "They said that they are in desperate need, of both of us today. I wonder what the hell it's about." She quickly adds, as she takes a small slirp of her own coffee, whilst driving.

The big black car flies by all of the other ones on the road with such ease. You felt as though you were floating. Infact, it actually made you a little nervous, plus the comment that Natasha had just made. You simply nod. It was a surprisingly sunny day, not a single cloud in the sky. 

"By the way..." You said in a sudden upbeat tone. "You're seeming a lil̈́ happier than usual. Did you meet someone orrrrr?" You continue, as you give her a teasing look. Nat only gives you a fast glance, and then rolls her eyes. She looks back on the road with a focused look on her face.

You grin a little. "Oh, okay.. I get it. Seems as though its more serious, than I anticipated." 

"Ugh! Could we not talk about it right now." She asks, now a bit irritated. 

"Fine, fine... Just make sure you rubber up, son. Make me proud!" You say in a sarcastic and uplifted tone, as you squeeze her left shoulder with your left hand.

She presses her lips into a thin line, but after a few seconds she lets out a laugh. You turn on the radio to listen to some music, before you arrive at the compound.

* * *

"So, people!" Fury says as he throws the case file onto the metal table. While he looks of the big window in the meeting room. You still had to get used to the new place. It is so huge, and has so many rooms and halls. Often times you would get lost, as you looked for the restroom. _Why does he always feel the need to be so mysterious,_ you though to yourself. It would seem that he is looking out upon the big cement platform, which is for the smaller quinjets.

"We have a very exciting mission for you today." Fury says. "About 35 miles from here, there has been spotted a sort of toxic waste. We have been suspecting, that it may be leftover material from the aliens, that attacked New York back in 2012." He continues. "But we are not quite sure, what the hell it is yet. It has been located in an abandoned warehouse." He adds as he slowly walks around the room.

Small talk began to grow loud in the meeting room. You and Nat weren't the only ones there, because it seemed as though, they needed more agents to help with this. A lot of questions were asked, all around the oval table. You and Nat just looked at eachother, with a funny look. You both know better than to cut off Fury, as he is giving out information. You fumble around with your pen. Getting a little distracted, when Fury mentioned the alien attack in New York. Your thoughts about the Avengers growing in your head. They were really interesting people. You had always admired "Superheroes", of course you never thought, that they would be real. Your eyes are glued to your empty coffee cup on the table, while you daydream.

"ALEXANDRA WALTHER!" Fury says with a harsh voice. "Are you paying attention? This shit is serious." 

"Yes. Yes I am." You quickly and simply say. Theres no reason to overcomplicate the situation with excuses. He shakes his head a bit.

"Good. Now, like I was saying. We had a team out last time, to get a more intell about the material. It seems that it is some naturepowered cosmic energy source. Of some kind..." Fury explains. An agent in the room raises their hand. They have smooth black skin, and big dark brown eyes. 

Fury gives them a quick nod, and signaling that they can speak. 

"Sir, Do we know why it was placed in this warehouse? Or how it got there?" He said with a confused face. Nick went silent for a while, perhaps he is trying to come up with reasonable answer.

"Well... How and why it got there, we don't fucking know." He shortly said. Although you though he seems a little hesitant with his words. "We do know that it is too damn far from where the Avengers tower was in Manhattan, to have gone all the way down here." His face turns downwards to the files lying on the table. 

"The rest of the information, you can find in there." Fury finishes his presentation. He didn't say a word, as he walks out of the grey door on the side of the room. The group of agents and some people from the research division are left in silence. We all take a glance at eachother, and people slowly begin to leave.

"Alright. Soo, I think we are done here." Natasha says, as everyone turned heads. She gives the crowd a short smile, and grabs your arm. 

You grab your case file, and stand up from your chair, to follow Natasha out of the room. Stepping out of the room, you notice that there were many people, walking up and down the halls. The halls were all grey, white and black. Very minimalistic but still practical. It feels like mile long halls, and hundreds of rooms, and they are all filled with different purposes. Some for research, the science division or weapons and machinery. Of course it isn't all bad. There are still rooms with nice big leather couches. Some has big paintings on the walls or big windows with a beautiful view of the landscape outside.

"Don't you think Fury acted a lil' funny?" You ask Nat. You put your attention to the floor, while you and Natasha walks down the long hall. She starts walking slighty slower, as she tries to process the question.

"Yeah... He did seem stressed, but I mean when the hell aren't we stressed with this job?" She replies sarcasticly. 

You let out a short laugh. "You're not wrong!" You reply. 

The two of you have finally reached the headquarter. The headquarter is a big white room, and the ceiling must have been around 30 feet high. Big windows surrounded the room, and a big sliding double door at the entrance. 

"According to the file we are supposed to meet up at the location at 5 pm tonight" She explains, as she takes a look at your brown eyes. 

"Yeah, I know. I still have a little of time to run some errands." You say with a pouty face, because you're still feeling a little sleepy. 

"OK, great. Soo, I will go, and grab some equiptment from the weapons and machinery department. I'll call you in a couple of hours and we'll get ready?" She asks with a small smile on her lips.

"You got it!" You shortly reply. 

You watch her disappear into another hall, and soon she becomes a small figure in the distance. You pull your phone out of your pocket, and you check the time. _10.34 am_ it says. With quite some time left you start to move your feet. You have a lot of things to do, but really need to workout, before it is too late. The Avengers has a special treatment, which means that some rooms only apply to them, and not smaller agents or spies. They have their own place to relax or sleep, and their own gym, so you have to use the public gym in the facility. It isn't unfair, but it is a little degrading to say the least. After a lot of walking, you reach the gym. 

You put your personal card into the buzzer on the side of the door. It blinks green, and effortlessly opens. You stroll into the womens lockerroom, and you drop off your bag. You change into a matching black set of leggings and a long sleeve crop top. You put your hair into a low bun, and put on your runningshoes. You enter the gym, and no one is there. It's empty. Every piece of equiptment is completely untouched. There is always a couple of agents, but you only hear the low music coming out of the speakers in the corners of the room. You can't really decide, what you want to do first, but before you are able to you hear yells coming from another corner of the gym. You can't see anyone, but as you follow the sound you find the source. Your jaw drops a bit, when you notice the yells were coming from some colleagues. They are cheering on Captain America himself, and it seems that he is praticing his boxing skills with a friend. You decide to get a closer look at the training. 

You elbow a female colleague in the arm. "Hey, Amber... What is he doing here? Isn't he supposed to train in the supergym?" You ask quietly.

"Uhmm... That's exactly what I thought, but I heard from another guy that their gym is being renovated, because there was an accident." She replies just as quiet as you. You give her a strange look.

"So what, did Banner freak out or something." You sarcasticly say. She shrugs and laughs at the comment. You aren't complete strangers to "The Avengers". You are a close friend to the Black Widow, your partner Natasha Romanoff. You have met Tony Stark multiple times, and Bruce Banner too. Of course they didn't seem too interested in you, as you were in them. Natasha has mentioned Clint a couple of times, but you have never seen him in the flesh. Same with Thor. Steve Rogers you have spoken to a couple of times, and you knew him, but not enough to be his friend.

You take a closer look at the soldier, and notices that his friend's arm reflects the light of the lamps of the gym. Your eyes go wide. You have heard of the Winter Soldier before, but you have never seen him in real life until now. 

"Is that the Winter Soldier?" You ask with disbelief. You notice his head turns slighty at the mention of his nickname. 

"Yes." Amber answers shortly. "But is he even done with his recovery? I mean, I thought it would take longer..." You ask her, but more quietly this time

"I was informed that he was wasn't fully done, but that it would help, if he tried to get more air and space. You know, like actually get out." She replies. You nod in agreement. 

Steve and Bucky finish their training, and start to pack their things. You try to get into the right mindset. Picking up some slightly heavy weights, the corner of your eyes watch Steve and Bucky go into the mens lockerroom. You shake your head, and put your earbuds into your ears, and try to get over what just happend. The other agents are either giving it their all, or sitting around and stalling. After a couple of minutes you see Cap' and his bestfriend come out of the lockerroom. They both give everyone a little wave before they leave. His friend meets your eyes, but you just smile at him. He looks a bit confused, but tries to smile back.

* * *

After the workout and running a couple of other errands, you meet up with Natasha, at the Avenger compounds garage. The garage is wide and has a high ceiling, and is filled with a ton of boxes and shelves that holds different kinds of equiptment. The rest of the agents, who are in on the mission has already begun loading the trucks. You and Natasha prepares one of the black vans. In the van, you notice Bruce Banner. It seems like he is setting up the computer program.

"Bruce? I didn't think you'd be working this case too?" Natasha says with a smirk on her face. Bruce gets a small shock and jumps in his seat.

"Nat- Jeez. I didn't see you two standing there." He says nervously with a his hand on his chest. "But yes, I'm on this one. When we get a piece of the source, I'll take it back and analyze it." He explains shortly, his face still a bit flushed from before. 

"Well, I'm glad that you'll be here too." Natasha says as she takes a step into the back of the van. She gets a closer look of the computers. Natasha lays her hand on his shoulder, and looks back at you. A small smile appears on your lips. You know a thing or two about body language, and this makes you think about how happy Natasha was earlier. 

"Sooo. I'll go help the others load some gear in the trucks." You awkwardly say, as the tension breaks. She just nods in agreement. 

You jog over to a colleague, who is about to step into the drivers seat of a truck. They turn their head, and gives you a quick wave. 

"It's almost 5 pm, and the other vans have been taken care of. Just so you know." She says. "You can ride with me, if you want to..." She continues with a kind smile on her lips.

"Sure." You reply. She reaches her hand out of the front of the truck. You grab it, and crawl in on the passengers seat. The nametag on her navy jacket reads "T. Jaspers". 

Suddenly a voice that is coming from the opening of the garage shouts:

"OK, people! The gear should be ready and packed by now! If not, then finish it immediately." They pause for a second. Making sure that everyone heard. "We are leaving NOW. The vehicles from the right to the left; start moving!" They continue, and still speaking loud and clear. 

The big grey metal gates starts going up, and the first truck leaves the station. Not long afterwards it is your turn. The dark sky hovering above the truck, as you drive through the small gravel road. You roll down the window to get some fresh air. The crisp evening air hits your face, and a sigh leaves your mouth. You decide to go through the casefile once more, just to make sure. _35 miles... Abandoned warehouse... A form of cosmic energy that clings onto the plants sorrounding the area... Do not come into contact with the material, until it's proven to be safe..._ You skim through the file.

"Didn't you read it?" She asks with furrowed brows. 

"Oh, I did read it.. I'm just skimming through it to see if I missed anything." You answer swiftly. The confused look on her face disappears, and she nods.

The conversation stops, and you turn to face the the forest, that you are passing through. Eventually the car slows down, and parks a little further away from the warehouse. You both step out of the truck, and your eyes catch Natasha, who is talking to Bruce, still. The closer you get to Natasha, the better look you get of the warehouse. It is a little difficult to tell the colors in the dark, but it looks very old and worn out. The brickwalls are scratched and some bricks are missing. The windows are nonexisting to say the least, or just smashed completely. Long vines and leaves sticking out of them. Even some plants growing along the walls. And if your eyes didn't deceive you, there was a slight glow streaming out of the building.

There is already tape lined up around the building, and some agents has begun unpacking the telts and other tech. You place your hand on Nat's shoulder, when you get to her.

"Hey. How was the ride?" You ask her with a sarcastic tone. You tilt your head, and a smirk curls on your lip. She rolls her eyes. Bruce, standing next to you, with a confused look on his face.

"Haha. You're so funny." She says dryly. "Anyways... Now, you and I are the first ones to enter the building, but we need some gear first." She adds.

You both walk over to the back of the van, and grab goggles, flashlights and earpieces from one of the boxes. The goggles are slightly tight on your head, but you'll survive. You have been told from the start, that a lot of missions take place at night, because it brings less attention. You put the flashlight in your pocket, and puts the earpiece in your ear. Nat goes back to talk with Bruce, who is sitting in a van with the computers. You follow her. The screens are filled with a bunch of lists and grafs, that has been picking up the energy signals from the building. The signals are high, and are constantly going up and down. Suddenly a voice speaks in your earpiece. 

" _Alright agents. Say yes, if you can hear this."_ It says. "Yes" Natasha and you answer.

You walk over to the tape, and bend under it. Natasha follows, and you both go slower as you get to the entrance of the building. The voice switches to Bruce's.

 _"Hey girls, I'll be guiding you through the building. I'll tell you where the energy spikes are the strongest, and you'll figure out what direction to walk in."_ He explains. You both answer a quick "Copy that". 

The flashlight gets turned on, because it is so damn dark in there. Natasha accidently treads on a small crusty vine, and it lets out a little poof. She shrieks shortly. 

"Hey. Watch your step." You tsked at her. Both keeping your eyes on the floor, and continuing through the hall. 

After walking around for a while, and trying to find a major sign of radiation, Bruce speaks once more.

 _"You should split up, it seems there are two different spikes coming from different places."_ He says shortly. 

"Copy that, Banner. Alex, you take the left hall, and I'll take the right." Natasha says, as she points her flashlight at you. 

"Alright. Be careful." You say with a small voice. You aren't scared, but you have never dealt with this sort of thing before. Natasha nods to your answer, and goes to the right. 

The flashlight resting in your right hand only lights up vines, broken glass and dust. You watch your step, and continue through the dark hall. The further that you get to the heart of the building, the brighter the hall gets. 

"It's getting brighter... I think the light is coming from the vines. It's like tiny strings of light in the fibers of the vines." You say into your earpiece, as you take a closer look at the plants growing out of the ceiling.

 _"Interesting, Alex. Maybe the cosmic energy is pumping through the fibers of the vines, like blood would flow through a body. Li-Like the energy has clung onto the plants to keep itself alive and regenerati-"_ Bruce says, but is cut off by Natasha:

" _Nerd.._ " She says with a sarcastic tone. You grin into your microphone. 

_"I hate you..."_ He answers with a small voice. 

" _Hahaaha... You know I'm kidding, big guy_ " Nat goes on. 

The flashlight goes out, but it doesn't matter, because you find yourself in a big greenhouse looking room. Where the cosmic energy is stored, therefore the room is pretty bright. 

"Guys... I think I found the mother." You say metaphorically. It looks like you're in the heart of the building, because the walls of the room are round. The ceiling is very high, and is made out of a big glass panel. You bend your head backwards to take in the whole view of the area. The starlight streaming in through the window. 

_"Wait- Wait... Can you describe what it looks like?"_ Nat says wonderously.

"Uhmm. I guess it could resemble a tree stump, but it's curvier. Almost like a ball. It's roots growing through the floor, and the vines are beaming." You answer, but stumbling over your words, it being a rather ravishing and captivating sight. 

_"Try and get a closer look. We need to document this and take samples later."_ Bruce says into the microphone. 

"Copy that." You answer him. 

You do as you're told, and tread lightly around the room. Watching out for the bigger vines scattered across the floor. The light coming from the source gets warmer, the closer you get. The curiosity growing inside of you, although you know better, than to touch it. God knows what could happen. A small vibration streams through the floor, while one of the roots starts twitching. You're pretty far into the room, yet you begin to feel unsure about the situation. 

_"Alright, I'll go look for you, Alex. Stay where you are, OK?"_ Natasha questions into her microphone, as she waits for your reply.

Before you manage to say anything, you hear a big bang coming from a hall further away. The ground shaking along with the loud noise. You instinctly start running towards the opening of the room, but as you do, you stumble over a big root. Your face smashes into the floor, and you shout in agony. 

"Ale _xandra?! Are you ok? I'm coming!_ " Nat almost yells, when she hears your scream.

A throbbing sensation in your head, but you try to lift yourself up by your elbows. The root consuming your foot, making it hard for you to get up. It burns like fucking hell. You slowly feel your sight becoming blurry. The root that is devouring your foot begins to crawl higher up your leg. You scream once more. Your hand meeting the blood, that has been dripping from your lip.

 _"Alex! You have to get out of there immediately! The energy levels, that I am picking up are growing stronger! It's becoming unstable!_ " He yells into the microphone, as his voice cracks mid-sentence. 

A few small sounds come out of your mouth, but the message isn't coming through. The earpiece broke after the fall. You turn to look directly at the source. It is only a half foot away from your face. The light flowing through it's fibers growing brigther and brigther. The burning sensation increases, and your bloody fists are clenched in pain. Your eyes fluttering, while the last thing you hear, before you slip away, is the sound of an explosion.


	3. What the hell happend to her?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the explosion at the warehouse, Alex (You) are taken to the acute department in the Avengers compound. Alex has been hurt pretty bad, and Bruce Banner and other scientist are trying to find out, what happend to her. They wonder if Alex survived, because of the cosmic energy source being in her system before it exploded. While they research, Alex needs to recover, and doing so she meets Bucky, who also is recovering from the brainwashing, he has been through.
> 
> (READER IS MAIN CHARACTER, ALTHOUGH WE ARE ABLE TO HEAR THE CONVO, EVEN IF THE MAIN CHARACTER IS UNCONSCIOUS)

_"Hurry! We need to stitch her wounds immediately!"... "..A-Alex.. You're gonna be ok."... "Hang in there Alex!"..._

Your feel yourself slipping in and out of consciousness, while you are lying on the ambulance bed. The cold air hitting your face, as you are driving through the halls of the compound facility. You can't see much or move a limp. But the voices are all around. Suddenly you hear a familliar voice, cracking as they speak up. Hands of medics and agents around your body, securing you, as they drive to one of the acute rooms. The voice comes from Eric, you brother. He follows the people down the hall. 

_"Is- is she gonna be ok?!"..."What the hell happend to her?"_ Eric says emotionally, stumbling over each word. 

_"We don't know yet, but we have to get her serious help!"_ A medic answers loud and clear. _"Could you please give us some space? We need to get through!"_ Another person says. 

An intense ringing in your ear from the explosion. You have a hard time figuring out what they are saying. As the bed sharply swings around, your stomach curls to the sensation. Then the bed stops moving, and you hear a bunch of different apparatus on the sides. A shuffling, muffling sort of sound. They cut the remainder of your clothes up, and start to attach different equiptment to your body. A pulse oximeter on your finger, and the monitors beeping to your right. Your eyelids light up, as a surgical light is placed above you. Your eyes flutter, and you feel a tear rolling down your left cheek.

 _"Give her_ _the anesthetic"..."Her heartbeat is steady, you may continue."..."Can I please come and see her, Doc?"_

Different voices filling up the room. You identify the last one as Natasha. Again, you feel yourself becoming unconscious...

**IN ANOTHER ROOM DURING ALEX'S/YOUR SURGERY**

"Please, do you know what happend to her?" Eric asks in a concerned tone. 

Bruce rubs his forehead. "I'm not sure... I- I mean, it all happend so fast. The goddamn building blew up!" Bruce answers with shaking hands.

"I mean... It's a miracle that Natasha was far enough away from the explosion..." He continues. Eric finds a seat in the waiting room, his face in his hands. 

Steve walks by the room fairly quick, but then he notices the two of them there, in the waiting room. He joins them with a confused look on his face.

"What is going on? I saw the whole team running through the headquarter. Someone said something about an explosion. Did someone get hurt?" Steve asks them, his eyes going back and forth between them.

"It's Alexandra Walther... You know, she works with Natasha quite often." Bruce shortly replies. He begins to slowly walk around the room. His face expressing a stressed look. 

"...Yeah, I've heard that name before. I think I saw her earlier today, in the gym. I hope shes ok!" Steve says.

Steve notices the man with his face in their hands. He sits down next to him. "Hey, are you ok? Do you know Alexandra?" He asks question upon question.

Eric just looks at him, with red tired eyes. "..Yes. I- uhh I'm her older brother." He says with a gloomy voice.

Steve puts a hand on Eric's shoulder. "I'm so sorry..." He replies not really knowing how to cheer him up. "I'm sure shes going to be ok.." He continues with a unconvincing tone.

"I fucking hope so.. Shes the only family I have left... Our.. Our father was sent to prison, when she was just a little girl, and our mother died way before that..." Eric begins, not really knowing why.

"It makes me sad to hear, what you've gone through... Why did your father go to prison, if i may ask?" Steve asks with furrowed brows.

Eric leans back into the chair, as he dryes his hands wet of tears, on his jeans. "Uhh.. It's a long story, but he did some horrible things... We had no idea." he explains, while wiping his damp cheeks with the sleeves of his sweater. 

"Huh, I honestly don't know what to say... I would have never thought, that something like that could have happened to her.. I mean, she always seems so happy." Steve explains, while shaking his head in disbelief. 

Eric laughs once. "Yeah, thats just Alex." He says shortly.

Natasha slowly walks into the wainting room. The three men stand up the exact minute, that they see her. Their faces filled with questions. A smile slowly creeps up on her face. Bruce raises his brows at her expression. 

"Shes fine... Just a couple of scratches here and there." She says with a big smile. 

Eric runs his fingers through his hair, while he smiles, and breathes out in relief.

"Can we come see her?" Steve asks now starting to seem more interested in you. 

"Well, she is asleep. They said we can see her for a moment, but she needs her rest." Natasha explains. 

Eric and Steve get up from the chairs, and Bruce follows. All four people go into the room, where you lay. The room is fairly small and has another bed a couple of feet next to yours. There's a curtain separating them. They stand around the bed, and admires your resting face. 

"Incredible... I mean, how can she even survive such a huge explosion?" Bruce wonders out loud. 

"Wait, was the explosion from the "Cosmic Plants" case?" Steve asks Natasha, who stands on the other side of the bed. 

"Yes." She says. "Bruce is right.. It is insanely incredible and lucky." Natasha replies with a neutral look on her face. 

Bruce's expression shows confusion and wonder. He takes a good look at your unconscious body. Checking for anything out of the ordinary, that the surgeons might have missed. He grabs a small flashlight for eye exams, and a magnifying glass. His fingers open your eyelids delicately, and shines the light onto them. He lets out a "Huh..", but the others look at him with confusion written across their face. The flashlight is placed back on the table, and he takes a thorough look at your arms, or rather your veins. He narrows his eyes for a short second, and stands up straight again.

"Unless..." Bruce says in a low voice. Everyone looks up. "What?" Steve asks.

Bruce doesn't answer, he just leaves the room. "Where are you going?!" The others shout in union.

"I think I know how she survived!" Bruce says with awe, as he looks back at them over his shoulder. Nat, Eric and Steve quickly follow him, and asking hundreds of questions. They all powerwalk down the long hall.

"OK! Heres what we're gonna do." Bruce says, as he stops up in the middle of the hall. "Uhhh... Eric, you're gonna go find Tony, and ask him to bring some his scanning and x-ray tech to the Avengers lab!" Bruce says, while pointing at Eric. 

Wait, I have to find THE Tony Sta-" Eric almost yells with a confused voice. Bruce cuts him off. "Yes. You'll find him somehow." He quickly adds. Eric just nods, and does as he is told. He runs off.

"Nat, you have to help me set up the computers at our lab. And Steve, you should go and bring Wanda. We might need her, if Tony's tech doesn't work on Alex." Bruce says with a clear voice. 

Nat gives him a smirk. She loved when he was being his nerdy little self. Steve's nods once taking Bruce's orders, like a soldier would. Bruce and Natasha continues to walk down the hall. The Avengers lab is not that far. Steve walks the opposite way, determined to find Wanda.

**BACK TO ALEX'S/YOUR POV**

Your hands twitch, as you start to come back to your sences. Your chest goes up, while taking a deep breath. Suddenly a cold and hard object touches your wrist. You flinch, and your eyes flutter open. Standing beside the hospital bed is the Winter Soldier. His face showing confusion and concern, as he stares at you.

"... W-what... Fuck.. my head." You say with a small raspy voice. Your hand rubs the side of your head. He continues to stare, until he realizes that he should explain himself. 

"Ooh.. Sorry, I thought you were asleep." He said quickly. "I was wondering what had happened to you?" He says as he crosses his human and metal arm over his chest.

You try to pick yourself up on your elbows, despite your body still feeling weak. "I don't actually know... I don't really remember." You answer him with the same broken voice. 

"Huh, you really don't remember anything?" He asks again. Pulling a chair up next to the bed, that you're lying in, and sits down. 

A short silence appears, but eventually you start to put the pieces together. "We- We were in a warehouse... We were on a mission.." You say as you're eyes roam across the room, that the two of you are in.

"You and who?" He asks again.

"Me and... Nat. Natasha Romanoff." You slowly respond. His eyes light up.

"You're Nat's partner aren't you? I knew I had seen you before. You were also in the gym this morning." He says, finally having figured out who you are.

You nod slowly in agreement, as each memory comes back to you. Eyes glacing through the room, and it stops at the clock that hangs above the door. It reads _21.46 pm._

"5 pm... I remember, we were supposed to meet at 5 pm." You say as your eyes continue to seek the room. In hopes of finding more information.

He just continues to figure you out. "Your name is Alexandra." He says. His blue eyes landing on yours.

Your eyes meet his, and you begin to look him up and down. He is wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans and a pair of combat boots. The thought about clothes makes you realize that you are in fact, naked. Covered by the hospital clothes of course, but know you had gained a better awareness of yourself. 

"Hey.. Could you get me some clothes?" Your tired voice asks. The feeling of embarrasment showing on your face. 

He smirks. "Sure, I'll be right back." He says, before he leaves his chair. James gives you a short glance, before he leaves the room. 

A deep breath leaves your lungs, as you manage to sit up in the bed. Stretching your arms and back to relieve some tension. Your head still spinning, and your vision still seeming a little blurry. Your legs swing to the side, and they meet the cold hard floor. Your hands gribbing onto the bedframe to stabilize yourself. After a few short minutes Bucky comes back with a pile of clothes in his arms. He places it on the foot of the hospital bed.

"Here ya go... I just took whatever I could find." He explains while scratching the nape of his neck. 

"Its fine, thanks." You respond. He stands for a moment, when he suddenly understands that you're waiting for him to look away.

"Oh, sorry!" He says, as he walks behind the curtain from the opposite bed. "You can change now.." His muffled voice says behind the blue curtain.

Your hand pulls out a pair of black sweatpants, a pair of old socks and a faded "Black Sabbath" band tee. You smile as you hold the T-shirt up in front of you. _I wonder how this got in the lost and found_ , you think to yourself. The clothes are slightly loose on your body, but it didn't really matter.

"You can come out now." You say with a little smile on your face. He steps out from behind the curtain, and comes closer. "... Maybe we should go look for Nat. Maybe she knows what happened." You speak. 

"Sounds like a plan." He shortly says. The two of you walk out of the acute room and down the hall. After a couple of minutes, your face turns to his.

"I heard you were trying to recover from the shit you've been through. A girl told me this morning." You tell him. He gives you a quick look, but his gace returns to the floor by the mention of the brainwashing. 

"Uhh.. Yeah, I do feel better now." He says as he forces a smile. Your hand meets his metal arm and caresses it, as a sign of support. 

Suddenly a yell comes from behind the two of you. 

"HEY!" They say, while running up to you. It's Bruce and Nat. "There you are, Alex! We have been looking for you." Nat says with a sigh from the running. 

"Well, I'm right here." You say sarcasticly. "As good as new!" You continue. 

Bruce and Natasha look at eachother with disbelief, and then back at you and Bucky.

"...What?" You ask them.

"You don't remember? Alex, the warehouse exploded... And you were right next what caused it." Bruce explains with raised eyebrows. 

"What?!" You almost yell, although your voice is still sore. Bucky stands behind you in silence.

"We really need to get you checked, Alex. Steve, Tony and Wanda are waiting for us in the Avengers lab. You're brother was there too, but he eventually had to leave." Natasha explains. She reached out, and holds your hand, while she mentions your brother.

"Eric? But does he know I'm ok, because I swear if he-" You begin, but Natasha cuts you off; "I already talked to him, and he knows that you're ok." She explains rather quickly. You sigh in relief.

Bruce starts walking quite fast down the hall, and Nat, Bucky and you follow him. As they are walking, you start falling behind, and Bucky notices. He sighs, and decides to pick you up. You let out a squeel, because you didn't see it coming. He grins at your reaction.

* * *

"Sooo, you're saying that this young lady here, uhhh, Alice-" Tony blurts out, but gets cut off by Natasha. "Alexandra." She corrects him. 

"Sure, Alexandra, we can call her that." He sarcasticly continues to speak. The four of you are sitting around a table in the Avengers lab, listening to Tony, as he goes through Bruce's theory about you. 

"Anyway. Banner, you're saying that Alexandra was inside of a building, as the so called "Nature Cosmic energy source" blew up." He says, whilst making qoutation marks with his fingers. Bruce nods.

"Annndd, that this energy source was flowing through a big plant, at the heart of the building. Now, this plant had vines grown all throughout the walls and floor." He continues to say in a unserious voice. _Typical Tony_ , you thought to yourself. Bruce confirms with a nod once more.

"Banner, you claim that this cosmic energy flowing through the vines, as if it was blood flowing through veins." He continues even further. The other Avengers with furrowed eyebrows, sitting around the table. 

"I'm saying, that I believe the only possible reason for how Alex survived the explosion, is if she had somehow been protected by the energy. Or maybe even absorbed." He finishes for Tony. "I mean, the way that she explained it, when she saw it, points to the plant being able to reganerate and protect itself." Banner continues, as he gets up from his chair. He begins walking around the table, in order to think clearer. 

The eyes of the people around the table follows him. Steve crosses his arms over his muscular chest, and he leans over to whisper something to Bucky. All you can do in the moment is sit in silence. Your memory is still a little fuzzy from earlier that evening.

"When Alex was unconscious, I checked her eyes and observed her arms and wrists. Her veins at her wrist were silver colored. Her eyes are green." Banner explains slowly.

"My eyes are brown." You blurt out. "...Exactly." Bruce says with a wide smile on his face. The others giving him a strange look.

"What if- What if she had in some way absorbed the cosmic energy. Now, all of her cells clashing together with this new overpowered cell. The connection between them creates a chain reaction, and this causes the explosion." He explains, making an absurd amount of hand gestures in the process. 

"Now, if the cosmic energy had a increased self-regenerating properties, and if it had already fused with Alexandra's cellular respiration... It would explain why she survived the explosion." Tony finishes for Bruce, his eyes wide with excitement. 

Wanda and Bucky's facial expression were still showing confusion, but Steve, Nat and you is understanding what this means. Your jaw drops.

"Are you saying that the cosmic energy is inside of me?!" You almost shout, and everyone turns to face you.

"I guess they are" Natasha sarcasticly says, having a hard time believing what they are saying. 

"Well, is there a way we can get it out of her? I mean, isn't it dangerous for her in the long run?" Steve questions Bruce. He scratches his jaw, as he thinks about what to say next.

"I think we should..." Wanda suddenly says. "We don't know if the energy is stable inside of her yet, right?" Wanda also begins to question. Bruce again wondering what the hell to tell the people sitting around the grey table. A few silent minutes pass by.

"Alexandra? What do you think?" Bucky breaks the silence. He turns to look at you. 

"I- I think... We should try. I don't wanna risk it." You say shortly and clearly. The Avengers in the room share glances with eachother for a short second to see if anyone begs to differ.

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for?" Tony sarcasticly says.


	4. Mixed feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex/You decide to go through the procedure. A procedure that is supposed to extract the Cosmic energy source, that is inside of you. The experiment does not go well, and you have to come up with alternatives. Tony and Bruce has a lot of things to say about the power within you, but some of the Avengers thinks that you could be a good extra...

"Are you ready?" Tony asks, as he looks down upon you. 

"As ready as I'll ever be!" You say with a crooked smile, not really sure, if this will go as planned. 

Tony, Bruce, Wanda, Natasha, Steve and Bucky are all standing in a circle, looking down on you, as you lie on the table of a very high tech body scanner. Apparently it's supposed to pick up where the cosmic source has hidden inside of you. Their heads are blocking out the sharp light from above. Tony begins the procedure, and the table starts moving with you on it. You look back at them through your eyebrows, and you notice Bucky give you a quick smile, when you lock eyes. As you delicately are transported into the long cylinder body scanner, a bright blue light travels up and down your body. You press your eyes together, and try your best to lay as still as you can.

"..Alright. The computer is slowly processing the picture." Tony says under his breath, and his eyes light up with excitement.

"What does it look like?" Bucky asks, while he unfolds his crossed arms, and walks over behind the big computer. The others decide to join him, and eventually they all stand behind the wide screen.

"...Guys?... You're being a little too quiet, it's making me nervous." You say in a muffled voice from inside the machine. 

"Oh, uhmm. Yeah... It's.. fine." Wanda tries to make an uplifting tone, but fails.

The blue light turns off, and you slowly open your eyes. The table rolls out, and Bucky walk over to help you off the platform. You grab his shoulder for support. His hand still on your waist, as you both walk over to see the result on the screen. Tony and Bruces face plastered with concern and passion, because they love doing this kind of stuff. The screen shows a white figure of your anatomy, but your heart and brain is blocked by a great bright spots, that has slight green tint. The veins and nerves connected to the heart and brain are lit up as well. Your brows furrow, and your face is filled with confusion.

Bruce lets out a long sigh, as he sees your reaction. Suddenly a copy of the photo is printed out, that comes out from under the desk. Steve picks it up, and places it on the oval table behind all of you. He places his palms flat on the table to support himself, as he looks over the photo. 

"We should probably send this to the government, I think they would like to know, what we're dealing with." Steve says, while he turns around to look back at the group. You still don't know what to say.

Natasha nods in agreement. "I can do it." She says. Her fingers flying over the keyboard, as she sends an email.

Tony looks over at you. "Alexandra, This is serious... I don't have the kind of equiptment to extract this power from your body, and especially not from your heart and brain." Tony says as his face turns downward, not wanting to look you in the eye. You take a big gulp, feeling very concerned and surprised. You didn't think it would be this bad.

"..Well, this is actually what I expected." Bruce says. "But that's why we need Wanda." He says with hope in his eyes.

Wanda looks at them with confusion. "What am I supposed to do? Use my powers to remoce hers!?" Her eyes going wide as she speaks.

"Yes, I thought that maybe you would be able to pull it out, in some way." Bruce explains.

Wanda's gace turns to you, and you sigh. "I mean, rather safe than sorry right?" You say, with a crooked smile once again. The photo on the table is moved aside by your hand, and you lay flat down on the table. Waiting for the next experiment to begin.

Bucky looks at the group, and then back at you. He snorts. "She sounds like a fighter!" He sarcasticly says placing his hands on his hips.

* * *

Wanda stands in front of the table, and she takes a deep breath. Her hands slowly moving a couple of inches above your body. The rest are standing behind here, making sure to keep their distance. You look at her out of the corner of your eye, and you notice her eyes glow red, as does her fingers. Her hands are dancing in the air, as she concentrates on pulling the cosmic power out of you. You close your eyes, and the air gets caught in your throat, while you feel something strange happening to your body. 

Wanda starts putting more effort into her magic. Moving her fingers quicker, and the red sparkly particles are glistening. You start to clench your jaw and fist, and then you grunt. 

"Are you ok?" She says hesitantly. You respond with a nod. She begins focussing, even more magic into your heart and brain, and you let out a small sound of pain. 

It burns like hell. You can feel the energy being pulled out of your heart and head. You open your eyes, and they glow a bright silver/green light. You can't see it of course, and even your veins around your arms starts to light up. Bruce takes a step forward with curiosity in his eyes. Another yell leaves your mouth, and your body twists in agony. Now, the rest of the group starts to move up to the table, their eyes filled with concern. 

"Alexandra, we should stop!" A worried Natasha speaks to you. Your glowing eyes meet hers. "No! I can take it..." You say with difficulty. 

Wanda doubtfully follows your command, as she begins to use even more power. You scream, and a drop of sweat rolls of off your forehead. The air getting caught in your throat, as you try to breath normally. It feels like the heart is being ripped right out of you through your stomach, and the worst migraine you've ever experienced. Wanda's hands are shaking now, and has a worried expression on her face. You clench your teeth together, as you cry out once more. The pain bringing back memories from earlier that night. The pain feels very familliar.

"Wanda, stop! You're hurting her!" Steve says, while he grabs her arms, and pulls them down. You are left on the table, shaking like a mess. The glowing light leaves your eyes and arms.

"It- It was going fine..." You manage to say. The borrowed clothes clinging to your sweaty body. You slowly pull yourself up into a sitting position. 

"Come on, Alex! That wasn't normal.." Tony responds. You try to focus on him with your blurry vision. Wanda looks down in disappointment, thinking that it was her fault. 

"What are you talking about?" You ask, whilst coughing. They look at you with a "Are you fucking kidding me" look. "What?!" You say once more.

"Alex, your eyes and veins were glowing! Just like I explained!" Bruce says, but you can't tell wether he is excited or angry. Probably both.

"... What??" You respond, while your eyes meet theirs. Tony scratches the nape of his neck. "Yes, it's true. Your "powers" was showed through the physical." He explains. "It's really interesting, actually. It's kind of rare for ones powers to be expressed, throughout ones appearance." He continues with a smile on his lips. 

You let out a long sigh, it had been a long day after all. You attempt to jump off of the table, that you're sitting on. Walking closer to the group staring at you, and you almost faint from being dizzy, when Bucky catches you, before your face meets the floor. 

"I guess, she is a fighter!" He says with a small smirk, as he holds onto your shoulders. 

* * *

The glass of water in your hands meets your lips. You take a swig, and your finger rubs your tired eyes. Bucky, Nat and Steve sitting at the same table. None of them had any ideas left, and frankly you were pretty cool about that. Sure, this whole "power" thing was pretty fucking new to you, but imagining your eyes glowing, it pretty sick. Eric had come back from the meeting, that he had to go too. He is sitting beside you with his hand on your forearm, and his thumb stroking over it, as a sign of care. 

"So.. Do you remember anything from earlier tonight?" Eric asks with curiosity. Your eyes meet his.

"Well, I actually remember hearing the firing of a gun... And it made me feel worried..." You explained with a concentrated look on your face. 

"What? Did someone get shot?" Bucky quickly breaks into the conversation. Your eyes now turn to him. Replying him with a single nod. Natasha's face drops. 

"Wait? The gunshot was triggered by accident. I remember, when I stepped out of the building to see who had shot it, the building blew up behind me! I just managed to get out of there. I was told that some idiot forgot to leave the safety on." She says with a serious tone, while she leans back into her chair. She shakes her head in disbelief.

Steve rubs her shoulder. "I- I'm so sorry, Alex." Nat says, as her eyes becomes watery. 

Bucky clenchec his jaw, and continues to look at you. "... But what does that have to do with the explosion?" He asks. 

Your eyes roam the table, as you try to recall the blurry events. "I... I tried to run out, to see what happened. I fell. Over a big root." You stop, trying to recollect more information. Bruce, Tony and Wanda walks over to the table, to hear your story better.

"The root wasn't hard, but squishy... It.. It felt like it was absorbing my foot, and I couldn't pull it out. And it burned like a bitch. It kept consuming me, and I couldn't break free." You slowly explain. 

A wave of silence flows over the table, as they try to reflect on what you have just explained to them. 

"Well. I think this could be a good opportunity for you." Tony says with a smirk on his face, while everyones eyes land on him.

"I mean, I don't think, you're dying anytime soon, since your powers won't let you. Wanda tried to remove it, but removing it only made you weaker..." He continues, but your head tilts in confusion. He rolls his eyes.

"I believe the energy is holding you together, and if the energy has mixed with your cells, and the remainder of the source exploded in your face, without it killing you. It seems to me, that you are quite invincible now, Alexandra..." He continues, while smiling like a mad scientist.

A smile appears on Bruce's face appears as well. "He's right... The energy has fused with your body, and now the cosmic power is a part of you." He says as he crosses his arms. 

Eric smirks. "So what, are you guys saying that, my sister is a superhero?" He laughs, while he slaps you on your shoulder. Tony laughs at the question.

"Of course not!" He says sarcasticly. "... But she could be, with the right training..." He claims, as he rubs his hands together in excitement. 

A wide smile appears on your face. "Well, I'm in." Nat says, and she stands up from her chair. 

"Me too! Well, I still have to work, but I'll be here, if you need anything, Alex." Eric says, as his gace turns to you. Then he stands up.

"Count me in!" Bruce says. Your face follows every person, as they keep coming up.

"I'm not quite sure, but I'll help..." Wanda says, a nervous tone in her voice. She stands up, and Steve follows.

"I'm with Wanda on this one..." Steve says, as he presses his lips into a thin line. 

Bucky gets up from his chair, and smirks. "I'm in... I wanna go some rounds with her." He says, as he looks at you. He winks at you, and you face feels a little flushed at the comment.

You pull yourself up from your chair, and glance over at every person standing beside you. "When do we start?" You ask with a smile.


	5. Shower thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex/You are working with the Avengers, with things such as training, powercontrol or just having fun. She quickly becomes close friends with them. The government has a hard time knowing that this "nobody" Alex has gotten these powers, and are afraid that it's a very risky situation. But alas, the Avengers don't really listen, and says that they will make it work.  
> A certain someone is also starting to be more flirty ;)
> 
> (CHANGING POV's)

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*

The alarm on your phone screams into your ear, and your hands fumble around to turn it off. Your finger presses down the button, and it stops. You rub your eyes, and blinks a couple of times, before stretching your back, while you turn in your bed. Pulling the comforter over your head. Suddenly you hear a knock on your door. You let out a sigh. 

"Mornin' Alex, I'm getting some breakfast for all of us... Just so you know." Wanda says in her soft voice. Your stomach rumbles at the thought of breakfast.

"... Okay, thanks." You shortly say in a raspy morning voice.

You pull yourself up, and rests on your elbows. The sunlight streaming into your face, and you have to be honest, it is quite a vision. You aren't at home, in your own apartment, but slept over at the compound in one of the spare rooms. The room is placed in the Avengers quarters. They all have their own room here, even though some still have a private house. People like Steve, Wanda, Bruce and Bucky has their own bedroom, plus bathroom. Even Thor has a one, and that guys never even there! 

You roll out of bed, and your feet lands on the cold floor. A bad smell is coming from you, and decide to take a shower. Tony had later on in the night before, called a team out to get all of your shit from your apartment, and move it here immediately. It was a bit of a shock, being told that you're moving. Just like that. But really it is fine, because this place might be a part of your workspace, but it is a hell of a lot better, than that old dirty apartment. So now, all of your clothes were here. In boxes, of course. 

Your legs carry you to your personal bathroom, and you pull off the oversized band tee, that Bucky had found you, the night before. A single glance at it, as you smile, and thinks about how nice he is for one of the most dangerous assasins in the world. That thought scares you a bit though. You step into the shower, and the ice cold water hits your skin. You shriek at the feeling. Eventually it becomes warmer. The bathroom is all in all luxuorious. Nice white countertop, a big mirror, A window that is covered, so you can't see through it. The glasswalls in the shower were a sheer black, and the tiles on the floor are black as well. 

You begin washing your body and hair, and you notice that the showerhead has different settings. Which gives you some other ideas, but you're not in the mood right now. A humming comes from your closed mouth.

**ANOTHER ROOM POV**

Bucky walks down the hall between the bedrooms, and he suddenly begins to slow down, when he hears a melody coming from Alexandras room. He smiles to himself, and shakes his head. Those walls are damn thin, but its not a bad thing. He makes it to the opening of the main room of the Avengers quarter, that they all were gathered in earlier. 

Steve looks in todays newspaper. "Good morning, Bucky." He says, as his gace turns to the long haired man.

"Morning." He says as he walks down the two steps, that leads to the dark wooden floor. "I see you're still reading newspapers." Bucky sarcasticly comments, as he points to the paper in Steve's hands.

"I see you're still funny as ever." Steve replies in a neutral tone. Bucky smirks after a little while, and Steve does the same. He holds the paper in half, and places it on the kitchen counter. 

"I thought the breakfast would be here by now?!" Tony says, as he steps into the room. He wears a more casual outfit, but of course, overdresses it with a pair of colored aviator glasses. Bucky and Steve turns around at the comment, and stares at him like he's an idiot. 

Tony walks up to table, and pulls out a chair. He begins checking his emails. Steve, the good boy, that he is, sets up plates and cups for breakfast. It's a saturday, and there is sometimes this unspoken rule, that they would have breakfast together in on weekends. If they have time for it, of course. 

Bruce and Wanda walk through the main door of the Avengers quarters, with brown bags in their arms. It's almost impossible for them to see, because there is so much. They had to feed two supersoldiers after all. 

"..Hey! We're back." Bruce struggles to get out, as he watches his steps, the bags blocking his view. Wanda places her bags on the table, and uses her powers to carry the rest. 

"Thanks." Bruce shortly says to Wanda. She just smiles at him. Tony removes his gace from his cellphone, and to the table with filled bakery bags. 

"About time..." He sarcasticly expresses, and Steve presses his lips into a thin line. ".. Thank you guys.." Steve says in spite of Tony's negativity. 

Wanda continues to use her magic. Putting some of the groceries in the cabinets and fridge, and leaves the rest on the table, for them to eat. Tony takes off his glasses, and hangs them in the V-neck of his shirt. 

"The government responded to the message, that we sent yesterday..." Tony says, as his brows furrow at the message.

"Well, what does it say?" Bucky asks him. 

"They said... _Hello Avengers, thank you for this information. Blahh blahhh... We look like to understand the circumstances for this particular situation... Blahh blahh.. We believe that is highly irresponsible of you to invite an agent, who has absorbed this -N.R.C.E.S- as you call it... We are against this idea, and this project should be taken down immediately. The subject should be sent to a national lab, and experimented on there_..." Tony says, as his voice slowly dies down, when they mention that the "project" should end. 

Wanda curiously looks at Tony. "N.R.C.E.S?" She asks. "Nature Radiated Cosmic Energy Source is the full name." Tony answers without his eyes leaving the screen.

All the people surrounding him, look at eachother with strange looks. Tony leans back into his chair, and sighs. Bucky stares down into the table, it seems that he is slightly angered by the message. 

Steve breaks the silence; "I mean, how can they possibly find out more than we have?". 

Bucky tsk's. ".. And why the hell refer to her, as a subject.." He says in a low voice, since he knows what it is like to be treated as an experiment.

Bruce grabs a slice of bread from the bag, and spreads butter on top. "I don't think that I'm giving up on this. I have never seen a form of power such as this one..." He says a bit hesitantly not really knowing how the others would react to the comment. 

"I agree." Bucky replies quickly. Steve glances at his best friend for a moment, seeming a little confused at his behavior. "Yeah, It's not fair for her. To just shut her away, and experiment on her like an animal." Steve speaks.

Wanda slowly nods in agreement.

**ALEX/YOU POV**

You stand in the opening between the hall and the main room. They turn around to face you, when they hear your footsteps. Bucky's eyes catch yours, when you appear.

"So... I hope you haven't started without me!" You say with a smile on your face, when you notice the food on the table.

Wanda smiles at you. "Nope." She shortly says. 

Tony puts his phone back in his pocket, and forces a smile at you. Suddenly everyone starts taking from the food on the table, and you swiftly join them. There is bread, butter, jam, peanutbutter and other toppings. There are also two cartons with four cups of coffee in one, and two in the other one. You grab one, and take some breakfast as well.

The silence fills the room, as everyone are eating. "So, What were you talking about before I came? I heard someone mention me..." You ask them, while you meet their eyes.

"Oh... W- We were just talking about how excited we are to have you here." Steve responds, as he tries to seem more positive.

"Well, I'm happy to be here." You grin. 

* * *

You sit down on the floor with a thump, and your the back of your hand wipes sweat off of your forehead. The air getting caught in your throat, because you're so out of breath.

"Guys.. I think, I need a break." You say with a raw voice...


End file.
